When we arrived at the church, the temp was down to 57
degrees and the wood we needed to paint was still damp from the evening rains.
However, a quick check of weather radar for the area gave us hope we had seen
the worst of it. In fact, within an hour of our arrival (as we were beginning
to formulate an alternative plan) the clouds thinned and the sun began peeking through.
By the time we picked up our first guest, the sun was shining and the temps
were rising. It turned out to be another perfect weather day for working
outside and the slightly cooler temps made the community center feel cooler
too.
Lunch was breakfast today and the kids seemed to like the
pancakes and sausage. Outside, Fr. Tom was asked to help the team leaders with
their skit during which they discussed the similarity of the Lakota medicine
wheel and the resurrection story. Afterwards it was off to story time and crafts.
One of the crafts was challenging today and our team didn’t have it down as
well as they would have liked; so things went a little slow. Nobody really
seemed to care and the slightly larger group meant we were spread a little
thinner too. In the end, the kids got done what they wanted and the rest they
took home for later. The team that shined today was our service project team.
They worked really hard and accomplished much more than any of us had imagined
they would.
We did have something really great to give thanks for today,
Don Eagle was celebrating a birthday and his grand-daughter and several of our
youth created and decorated a card we presented to him, along with a candled
cupcake and a wonderful rendition of “Happy
Birthday”. The only real problem we ran into today was that our kids were
showing signs of being a little tired, especially a few of the girls. It
shouldn’t really surprise anyone, we have a few girls who find it difficult to
go to sleep at night (no one understands how this is possible) as they huddle
in a corner to whisper and talk while others try to sleep; ah, the joys of
communal living. Back at the church, even though it had warmed up near 80
again, a third of the crowd decided not to swim but to shower and then walk
around town (which they did after showering, go figure). Those who went
swimming said while the water was still a little chilly, it sure felt good
after working up n the reservation all day.
Everyone headed back from the pool a little early today so
that we could be ready for worship and dinner with the folks from St. John’s.
It was nice to visit with them and to thank them in a small way for all they
did for our team. Troy from North Carolina was able to join us for dinner
before getting ready to head out; he and several of our youth enjoyed great
conversation with the members who were able to participate. During dinner, Fr.
Tom nailed down the dates for next year (June 16-21). At the same time, Troy
and Fr. Tom compared calendars and set up a planned meeting of our two teams
later this summer. Working with Don and our team leaders, the idea is to put
together a five year plan to split up work so that our efforts complement one
another and the people of Church of Jesus.
As the last of St. John’s folks left, we moved right into
bible study and a recap of the day’s events. Overall, it was a good day. Not
the best for day three, but by far not the worst. One of the questions teams
had to tackle was where did they see Christ today. The answers were interesting
and some were deeply thought provoking; as were some of the suggestions offered
by returning participants about tomorrow and Friday. Hard to believe this is
already coming to an end. But now is not the time to reminisce; we’ll have time
for that later. So for now, good night.
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